Certain electronic systems can be exposed to a transient electrical event, or an electrical signal of a relatively short duration having rapidly changing voltage and high power. Transient electrical events can include, for example, electrostatic discharge (ESD) events and/or electromagnetic interference (EMI) events.
Transient electrical events can damage integrated circuits (ICs) inside an electronic system due to overvoltage conditions and/or high levels of power dissipation over relatively small areas of the ICs. High power dissipation can increase IC temperature, and can lead to numerous problems, such as gate oxide punch-through, junction damage, metal damage and surface charge accumulation. Moreover, transient electrical events can induce latch-up, thereby disrupting the functioning of the IC and potentially causing permanent damage to the IC. Thus, there is a need to provide an IC with protection from such transient electrical events, such as during IC power-up and power-down conditions.